Planning and organizing your project to ensure success with NVivo.

1. SAGE - QSR webinar:
Planning and Organizing Your Project to Ensure Success
with NVivo
www.queri.com
Kristi Jackson, MEd PhD
kjackson@queri.com
303-832-9502

2. Qualitative Data Analysis
with NVivo (second edition)
Pat Bazeley
Kristi Jackson
kjackson@queri.com
pat@researchsupport.com.au
Research
Support

3. Table of contents
• Perspectives: Qualitative computing and NVivo
• Starting out, with a view ahead
• Designing an NVivo database
• Coding basics
• Going on with coding
• Cases, classifications, and comparisons
• Working with multimedia sources
• Adding reference material to your NVivo project
• Datasets and mixed methods
• Tools and strategies for visualizing data
• Using coding and queries to further analysis
• Teamwork with NVivo
• Moving on - further resources
• References
Research
Support

4. Core Structural Features
in NVivo
1. Coding
2. Cases
3. Classification Systems
4. Queries
Thirteen questions (A through M)
to address during your planning process
(and five tips!)

5. 1. Coding
How do I get from here . . .

6. . . . to here (a Matrix Query). . .
Female Male
7 4
Pulled Back Home 11 3
Positive 2 0
School

7. . . . and here (charting a Matrix Query)
Female Male
School 7 4
Pulled Back home 11 3
Positive 2 0
Female
Male
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
School
Pulled Back Home
Positive
Female
Male

8. I lived away for nine years. I was in college and
teaching.
But I ended up coming back because I married
back home and I know this is where I need to be.
So there is a great satisfaction knowing that. I
really love being here in my granny’s house that
was her grandmother’s house.
And I feel a real peace about being here. And I
tell people every night when I close that old
Montgomery door that I am very fortunate to be
on a square of land that has been in the family
for six generations and to have a family that
appreciates that like my family does.
School
Marriage
Family
FEMALE
2. CasesQuestions about Coding?

9. Going from sources to cases
Susan
T1
Susan
T2
Priya
T1
Raul
T1
Raul
T2
Priya
T2
Susan
I hope that everybody who is here, whether
they been here forever, or just got here,
they realize the power of this place and the
beauty of it.
Raul
And the beauty is not just in the trees or the
landscape . . .
Susan
but in the people and in the stories of the
past and they recognize that each one of
them has a say so.
Priya
That the decisions we make are going to
determine the future and that this place is
worth fighting for.
Raul
It’s worth working for.
Susan
Raul
Priya

10. Preparing quantitative data to map onto cases
Case Age Gender
Susan 30 Female
Raul 40 Male
Priya 30 Female
Classification sheet
Susan
Raul
Priya

11. 3. Classification System(s)

12. (Cases and Classifications in NVivo)

13. I lived away for nine years. I was in college and
teaching.
I really love being here in my granny’s house that
was her grandmother’s house. And I feel a real
peace about being here. And I tell people every
night when I close that old Montgomery door
that I am very fortunate to be on a square of
land that has been in the family for six
generations and to have a family that
appreciates that like my family does.
School
Marriage
Family
FEMALE
But I ended up coming back because I married
back home and I know this is where I need to
be. So there is a great satisfaction knowing
that.
But I ended up coming back because I married
back home and I know this is where I need to
be. So there is a great satisfaction knowing
that.
4. QueriesQuestions about Cases and the
Classification System
(Classifications, Attributes, Values)?

14. Female Male
7 4
Pulled Back Home 11 3
Positive 2 0
School

15. • Word Frequency – catalog
• Text – specific strings
• Matrix – cross-tab
• Coding – complex logic
• Compound – closeness
Theory building queries
Clerical/administrative queries
• Group – lists
• Comparison – coding reliability
Seven types of queries
Female Male
School 7 4
Pulled Back home 11 3
Positive 2 0
A
School
B
Family
C
Women
I lived away for nine years. I was in college
and teaching.
But I ended up coming back because I
married back home and I know this is
where I need to be. So there is a great
satisfaction knowing that. I really love
being here in my granny’s house that was
her grandmother’s house.
Family
“college”
within 50
words of
the node
family
School Susan
Priya School
Bindu Family
Susan Communication
Node Source Kappa Agree
%
Disagree
%
School Priya .5743 94.47 5.53
Family Priya 1 100 0
Communic. Priya 0 92.51 7.49

16. Questions about queries?
• Word Frequency – catalog
• Text – specific strings
• Matrix – cross-tab
• Coding – complex logic
• Compound – closeness
Theory building queries
Clerical/administrative queries
• Group – lists
• Comparison – coding reliability

17. A. What are they? People, teams, policies, theories,
phases, articles, organizations. . .
B. Do I want to work with more than one
kind? People AND organizations
C. Do I have multiple sources for one
case? Susan T1 and Susan T2
D. Do I have one source with multiple
cases? Focus group with Susan, Raul, Priya
. . . then how should I prepare my files?
5. Thirteen Questions to Address During
the Planning Process (and five tips!)
If I have cases . . . .

18. Simple tips for preparing files
• Keep every “moment” of data collection in its
own file (tip 1).
If I interview a child and an adult in a single
household . . .
. . . put the transcripts into separate
documents.
• If I have more than one Classification (e.g.,
person, family, organization ). . .
. . . start with the smallest (tip 2)
 person

19. E. What are they? Age, gender, ethnicity . . .
F. Do I have a plan for collecting them?
Screening questions, interview guide . . .
G. Will I pre-determine the Values, or will I
allow participants to self-identify and
later develop subgroups? Cuban-American,
White, Latino, Black, African-American, Caucasian . . .
H. Could some (or all) of the
Classifications, Attributes and Values
emerge during coding instead of being
determined a-priori? After coding, I see there
are three types of peer groups: Insular, semi-open,
open . . .
If I have attributes and values . . . .

20. I. Do I know some of them ahead of time?
Sustainability, barriers, transportation, efficacy . . .
J. Do I anticipate some will be inductively
generated? (Am I doing phenomenology, grounded
theory, or other inductive approaches?)
K. Have I read the literature about coding?
Pat Bazeley:
Qualitative Data Analysis: Practical Strategies
Kathy Charmaz:
Constructing Grounded Theory (2nd)
Lyn Richards:
Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide (3nd)
Johnny Saldaña:
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers (2nd)
Regarding my nodes (codes) . . . .

21. School
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Conflicted
Family
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Conflicted
Communication
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Conflicted
Potential Problem
Coding data & running matrix queries
(leading up to tips 3 & 4)

22. Topic
Health
Networking
Communication
School Family Communication
Positive 45 63 12
Negative 87 44 26
Neutral 10 11 13
Conflicted 86 96 112
Attitude
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Conflicted
Potential Solution
Topics
Attitudes
Matrix Query of Topics X Attitudes:
Avoid viral coding structures (tip 3)

23. Don’t create a viral coding structure by creating sub-nodes
according to demographic characteristics:
(tip 4)
School
Men
Women
Family
Men
Women
Ø

24. L. Do I know the kinds of queries I can run
in NVivo? Text mining, Boolean operations,
Matrices . . .
M. Do I have a memo in my project where I
can add ideas for queries as I code, link
and write about my interpretations? It’s a
bad sign if a final project doesn’t have any memos.
Learn how to create and modify memos (tip 5)
Regarding queries . . .

25. Cases
A. What are they?
B. Do I want to work with more than one kind?
C. Do I have multiple sources for one case?
D. Do I have one source with multiple cases?
Classifications, Attributes, Values
E. What are they?
F. Do I have a plan for collecting them?
G. Will I pre-determine the Values, or will I allow participants to self-identify and later develop
subgroups?
H. Could some (or all) of the Classifications, Attributes and Values emerge during coding instead of
being determined a-priori?
Nodes (themes)
I. Do I know some of them ahead of time?
J. Do I anticipate some will be inductively generated?
K. Have I read the literature about coding?
Queries
L. Do I know the kinds of queries I can run in NVivo?
M. Do I have a memo in my project where I can add ideas for queries as I code, link and write
about my interpretations?
1. Keep every moment of data collection in one file (except Datasets [surveys, social media, etc.])
2. If you have more than one kind of classification, start with the smallest
3. Avoid viral coding structures
4. Don’t put demographics (values) into your coding structure
5. Learn how to use memos in the project
Questions
Tips

26. SAGE - QSR webinar:
Planning and Organizing Your Project to Ensure Success
with NVivo
www.queri.com
Kristi Jackson, MEd PhD
kjackson@queri.com
303-832-9502